A medicine dispensing and packing apparatus or the like includes a built-in medicine supply apparatus. The medicine supply apparatus includes a hopper. The hopper includes a passage that allows fluid medicine such as powders and tablets to pass downward therethrough (for example, Patent Literature 1).
A hopper described in Patent Literature 1 includes a supply container that can temporarily store medicine such as powders supplied thereto. The lower end of the supply container is opened. The supply container includes an opening and closing plate that can open and close the opened portion and is supported by a hinge. When the opening and closing plate is moved, the medicine can be taken out of the supply container.
Meanwhile, in the hopper including the opening and closing plate, the opening and closing plate is located in contact with the medicine. Hence, the medicine is likely to remain on the surface of the opening and closing plate and in gaps and irregularities existing in the hinge portion of the opening and closing plate and the like. In the case where the type of medicine supplied to the hopper is changed, the remaining medicine needs to be removed from the hopper in order to avoid contamination. In this case, there occurs a problem that the cleaning work of the hopper including the opening and closing plate, in which such gaps and irregularities exist, is troublesome.